For archival purposes, I file everything by the year it had its world premiere. Many of these films will have been commercially released in the U.S. a year or two later, so my lists won’t always match up with other folks’ lists.

Films I haven’t yet rated on that scale are marked with if I currently think they belong in my top ten. These films are subject to being shifted around or yanked altogether at any moment, after I revisit them and they get a numeral. (Lists from prior to about 1988 are especially suspect, as I compiled them long ago from memories that were in many cases already pretty dusty.) If a film isn’t currently in my top ten, and I haven’t yet rated it, you’ll find it under Notable Omissions below or you won’t find it at all. There are a whole lot of the latter — if you’re wondering whether or not I’ve seen the masterpiece you can’t believe I omitted, check my master list.